As cidades brasileiras enfrentam graves problemas na construção e manutenção de suas infraestruturas, que comprometem a qualidade de vida da população. Geralmente, como é o caso das obras viárias e, mais particularmente, dos pavimentos, tratam-se de obras e serviços que necessitam de investimentos vultosos e que deveriam, portanto, ser corretamente dimensionadas, executadas e mantidas ao longo da vida em serviço. Este trabalho trata dos Sistemas de Gerência de Pavimentos Urbanos (SGPU), relatando experiência de implantação em uma cidade de médio porte (Anápolis-GO), apresentando todas as etapas e fases de implantação, as barreiras institucionais que tiveram de ser vencidas, o entrelaçamento entre as áreas técnica, jurídica, administrativa, ambiental e política, os resultados e benefícios obtidos com a implantação do SGPU e as principais funções e utilidades, que incluem não só a otimização do planejamento das atividades de manutenção e reabilitação dos pavimentos, mas, também, o auxílio à prefeitura municipal na busca de recursos junto ao Governo Federal ou a outros órgãos de financiamento. Os resultados obtidos com a implantação do SGPU-Anápolis foram positivos, podendo-se destacar o auxílio em processo licitatório para contratação de obras de manutenção preventiva, sendo que, anteriormente, as opções se restringiam tão somente aos tapa-buracos e recapeamentos sem dimensionamento estrutural, o estímulo ao desenvolvimento da área de pavimentação junto aos cursos de Engenharia Civil existentes na cidade, com contratação de estagiários para atuação em todas as etapas, incentivo à implantação de uma gerência de infraestrutura urbana, com a compatibilização de todos os setores que se utilizam do sistema viário (transporte público, água, esgoto, drenagem, iluminação pública, telefonia, gás, energia elétrica, meio-fio, sarjetas, calçadas etc.), preparação de equipe para utilização de uma base comum de dados georreferenciados para a gerência da infraestrutura urbana, inclusive com contratação de estagiários de arquitetura de cursos existentes na cidade e região, formação e aperfeiçoamento técnico dos gestores públicos e tomadores de decisão em geral e, finalmente, desenvolvimento de um exemplo de processo sinérgico envolvendo a universidade, a iniciativa privada e a administração pública. / Brazilian cities face serious problems in the construction and maintenance of its infrastructure, which affect the quality of life. Generally, as in the case of road works and, more particularly, the pavements, these are works and services that require huge investments and should therefore be properly designed, built and maintained throughout the service life. This work deals with the Urban Pavements Management Systems, reporting deployment experience in a medium-sized city (Anapolis-GO), showing all the stages and phases of implementation, institutional barriers that had to be overcome, the entanglement between areas (technical, legal, administrative, environmental and political), the results and benefits obtained with the implementation and the main functions and utilities, which include not only the optimal planning of pavement maintenance and rehabilitation activities, but also aid to the municipal government in seeking funds from the federal government or other funding agencies. The results obtained three years after the implementation of SGPU-Anapolis are very positive, and it can be highlight the aid in the bidding process for preventive maintenance works, since the previous options were limited solely to patching and underdesigned overlays, stimulating the development of the paving area along the courses of Civil Engineering in the city, with hiring interns to work in all stages, encouraging the establishment of a management of urban infrastructures, with the compatibility of all sectors that use the roadway system (public transportation, water, sewage, drainage, street lighting, telephone, gas, electric, curbs, gutters, sidewalks etc.), preparation of staff for the use of a common set of georeferenced data for management of urban infrastructure, including hiring interns of architecture courses in the city and nearby town, training and technical improvement of public managers and decision makers in general, and finally, development of an example of synergistic process involving the university , the private sector and public administration.

Using information from the Amadeus dataset and the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey, we provide an empirical investigation of the industry and firm-specific determinants of the intensive margin (i.e., within existing firms) job creation process in eleven Central and Eastern European economies during the period 2002-2009. Our results indicate that during the years prior to the global financial crisis, traditional industries were crucial for the net intensive margin creation of jobs in the region but, by contrast, services firms were less vulnerable to the economic downturn. At the firm level, small and young already existing firms and subsidiaries of multinational corporate groups tended to register the highest employment growth rates. The empirical results also indicate that more productive surviving firms tended to be less vulnerable to the economic downturns in terms of employment change. The perceived quality of the business climate by enterprises of the region is robustly correlated with intensive margin employment growth both before and during the recent global financial crisis. Interestingly, the best performing surviving firms are estimated to be most negatively affected by a poor business environment. Institutional barriers thus appear as an important factor hampering firm growth in Central and Eastern Europe. These findings hold for the group of high-growth surviving firms (gazelles) that disproportionately accounted for the creation of new jobs in these economies.

As cidades brasileiras enfrentam graves problemas na construção e manutenção de suas infraestruturas, que comprometem a qualidade de vida da população. Geralmente, como é o caso das obras viárias e, mais particularmente, dos pavimentos, tratam-se de obras e serviços que necessitam de investimentos vultosos e que deveriam, portanto, ser corretamente dimensionadas, executadas e mantidas ao longo da vida em serviço. Este trabalho trata dos Sistemas de Gerência de Pavimentos Urbanos (SGPU), relatando experiência de implantação em uma cidade de médio porte (Anápolis-GO), apresentando todas as etapas e fases de implantação, as barreiras institucionais que tiveram de ser vencidas, o entrelaçamento entre as áreas técnica, jurídica, administrativa, ambiental e política, os resultados e benefícios obtidos com a implantação do SGPU e as principais funções e utilidades, que incluem não só a otimização do planejamento das atividades de manutenção e reabilitação dos pavimentos, mas, também, o auxílio à prefeitura municipal na busca de recursos junto ao Governo Federal ou a outros órgãos de financiamento. Os resultados obtidos com a implantação do SGPU-Anápolis foram positivos, podendo-se destacar o auxílio em processo licitatório para contratação de obras de manutenção preventiva, sendo que, anteriormente, as opções se restringiam tão somente aos tapa-buracos e recapeamentos sem dimensionamento estrutural, o estímulo ao desenvolvimento da área de pavimentação junto aos cursos de Engenharia Civil existentes na cidade, com contratação de estagiários para atuação em todas as etapas, incentivo à implantação de uma gerência de infraestrutura urbana, com a compatibilização de todos os setores que se utilizam do sistema viário (transporte público, água, esgoto, drenagem, iluminação pública, telefonia, gás, energia elétrica, meio-fio, sarjetas, calçadas etc.), preparação de equipe para utilização de uma base comum de dados georreferenciados para a gerência da infraestrutura urbana, inclusive com contratação de estagiários de arquitetura de cursos existentes na cidade e região, formação e aperfeiçoamento técnico dos gestores públicos e tomadores de decisão em geral e, finalmente, desenvolvimento de um exemplo de processo sinérgico envolvendo a universidade, a iniciativa privada e a administração pública. / Brazilian cities face serious problems in the construction and maintenance of its infrastructure, which affect the quality of life. Generally, as in the case of road works and, more particularly, the pavements, these are works and services that require huge investments and should therefore be properly designed, built and maintained throughout the service life. This work deals with the Urban Pavements Management Systems, reporting deployment experience in a medium-sized city (Anapolis-GO), showing all the stages and phases of implementation, institutional barriers that had to be overcome, the entanglement between areas (technical, legal, administrative, environmental and political), the results and benefits obtained with the implementation and the main functions and utilities, which include not only the optimal planning of pavement maintenance and rehabilitation activities, but also aid to the municipal government in seeking funds from the federal government or other funding agencies. The results obtained three years after the implementation of SGPU-Anapolis are very positive, and it can be highlight the aid in the bidding process for preventive maintenance works, since the previous options were limited solely to patching and underdesigned overlays, stimulating the development of the paving area along the courses of Civil Engineering in the city, with hiring interns to work in all stages, encouraging the establishment of a management of urban infrastructures, with the compatibility of all sectors that use the roadway system (public transportation, water, sewage, drainage, street lighting, telephone, gas, electric, curbs, gutters, sidewalks etc.), preparation of staff for the use of a common set of georeferenced data for management of urban infrastructure, including hiring interns of architecture courses in the city and nearby town, training and technical improvement of public managers and decision makers in general, and finally, development of an example of synergistic process involving the university , the private sector and public administration.

Magister Educationis - MEd / This study seeks to investigate barriers to participation in adult learning among Somali refugees in Cape Town. It draws on scholarship around various conceptual frameworks on migration perspectives, and barriers to participation in adult learning, as lenses to understand and explain the experiences of the Somali refugee community. The Refugee Act of 1998 was promulgated post-democracy in South Africa. One of the objectives of this Act was to redress past inequalities by providing access to education for all the people of South Africa including foreigners who are refugees or immigrants legally settled in the country. Due to various challenges, not all refugees and migrants have access to education that would provide them with the necessary skills to enter the job market. Without access to the formal labour market, they resort to informal activities that enable them to generate cash and sustain livelihoods. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the gender dimension is important since women particularly are subject to prejudices and disadvantages that deny them entry into the labour market, both informal and formal. This study therefore investigated barriers to participation in adult learning among refugees. One of the main purposes of the research was to examine the impediments, which inhibit both men and women refugees from access to a decent education and opportunities for adult learning in South Africa. The methodology adopted was a qualitative research design. Through focused, in-depth interviews with a sample grouping of a Somali refugee community, insights were obtained into the challenges and blockages to learning access that are prevalent. The sample size comprised 50 participants: 25 males and 25 females, which were arrived at using the snowball sampling technique. An in-depth interview protocol guided the discussion, which was intended to elicit personal narratives. The findings of the study revealed that both men and women experience institutional, situational, dispositional and academic barriers, which prevent them from participating in adult learning programmes and other learning opportunities in spite of their willingness to do so. However, women particularly suffer from a lack of access due to cultural and religious norms, which limit their participation as women learners. This additional barrier proved to be a substantive situational barrier that did not affect Somali men. This study makes several recommendations that are based on the research findings. Participants generally desired sufficient access to adult learning programmes, harmonious living and integration within communities, and to employment opportunities, education funding support, and increased public awareness of such learning opportunities through seminars and workshops.

Food waste is a complex issue with environmental, social, and economic consequences. Approximately one third of the food produced for human consumption is annually wasted and the need to prevent food waste is discussed in the public debate, policy outcomes, and sustainable development goals. Food waste prevention is complex and need to be practiced all along the food supply chain. In Sweden, municipalities are self-governing entities that have been assigned the formal responsibility to prevent food waste among households and municipal functions. However, the distributed responsibility and complexity around food waste prevention entail various barriers to successfully implement food waste prevention strategies. The purpose of this study is thus to investigate how institutions influence municipal food waste prevention. The study is inspired by an ethnographic approach and is founded on an empirical material consisting of 137 waste plans and 10 interviews with municipal and public authority representatives. An institutional perspective is applied to understand how institutions influence municipal food waste prevention. The results from the analysis conclude that a) food waste prevention strategies in Sweden construct the consumer as the main cause of food waste generation; b) the institutionalized freedom of choice is perceived as a barrier to implement stronger food waste prevention strategies such as regulation or legislation; and c) institutions offer an important component to understand the construction of the problem around food waste prevention. / Matsvinn är ett komplext problem som påverkar miljö, samhälle och ekonomi. Av den mat som årligen produceras för mänsklig konsumtion slängs ungefär en tredjedel, och behovet av förebyggande åtgärder mot matsvinn blir alltmer uppmärksammat genom samhällsdebatten, policy, och hållbarhetsmål. Förebyggande av matsvinn är komplext och åtgärder för att minska matsvinn är nödvändiga längs hela livsmedelkedjan. Sveriges kommuner är självstyrande och har blivit delegerade det formella ansvaret att förhindra matsvinn i hushåll och kommunala funktioner. Att implementera strategier för att förebygga matsvinn är dock ett komplext arbete med delat ansvar som möter många barriärer. Syftet med denna studie är därför att undersöka hur institutioner påverkar kommunalt matsvinnsförebyggande. Studien är inspirerad av en etnografisk ansats och baseras på ett empiriskt material bestående av 137 avfallsplaner och 10 intervjuer med kommunala och statliga representanter. Ett institutionellt perspektiv är anammat för att förstå hur institutioner influerar kommunalt avfallsförebyggande. De tre viktigaste slutsatserna från resultatet visar att a) strategier för att förebyggande matsvinn konstruerar konsumenten som den främsta orsaken till att matsvinn uppstår; b) en institutionaliserad valfrihet uppfattas som en barriär för att implementera hårda åtgärder så som lagstiftning och reglering; och c) institutioner utgör en viktig förklarande komponent för att förstå hur problemet kring matsvinn konstrueras.

The electronic identification (eID) is a digital representation of our analogue identity used for authentication in order to gain access to personalized restricted online content. Despite its limited and clearly defined scope, the eID has a unique role to play in information society as an enabler of public digital services for citizens as well as businesses and a prerequisite for the development of electronic government (eGovernment). This study shows a tendency of treating public sector eIDs like Information and Communications Technology (ICT) artefacts in general. Hence, a narrow focus on technology is often applied thus placing non-technical aspects in the background. Consequently, social and organizational implications are often unproblematized which in turn becomes problematic in the case of the public sector eID. This study puts forth a need for a broader focus in this area and contributes by focusing on the challenges related to the resistance to introductions of eIDs among affected actors in the public sector. This study assumes that affected actors’ perceptions (translations) of the eID have a potential impact on its introduction on organizational as well as operational level. Research questions focus on the influence of resistance on the introduction and the relationship between resistance and actors’ translations of the eID. The aim is to further develop existing concepts and bring new insights to research as well as practice. The analytical perspectives of sociology and institutionalism aim at developing a tentative analytical framework for investigations of this relationship. Introductions, therefore, become institutional pressures facing resistance as related to affected actors’ translations. The empirical basis consists of two interpretive case studies of eID introductions –a national eID to cover the entire public sector and a professional eID in health care. The result shows that resistance in the form of institutional barriers develops from actors’ negative translations of the eID and main coordinating actors’ tend to fail in their attempts to negotiate these barriers. This confirms a closer relationship between institutional pressures and barriers and a view of pressures, barriers and eIDs as translated institutions transferred across organizational settings is put forth. To facilitate future research and practice related to public sector eID introductions, three propositions are put forth. (1) The importance of acknowledging pressures to introduce eIDs as closely related to barriers. (2) The institutions involved in this process as all translated by the government, coordinating actors as well as affected actors. (3) The importance of a developed understanding of these institutions, translations and relationships in order to facilitate cooperative efforts shaping future public sector eIDs. / Elektronisk identifiering (eID) är en digital representation av vår analoga identitet som används för autentisering i syfte att få tillgång till skyddat innehåll på nätet. Trots ett begränsat syfte, har eID en unik roll i informationssamhället som möjliggörare av offentliga digitala tjänster för medborgare och företag och en förutsättning för utveckling av elektronisk förvaltning (eförvaltning). Denna studie visar att eID i offentlig sektor ofta hanteras som informations- och kommunikationsteknik (IKT) generellt. Därför tillämpas ofta ett tekniskt perspektiv vilket medför att icke-tekniska aspekter placeras i bakgrunden vilket blir problematiskt i fallet med eID i offentlig sektor. Sociala och organisatoriska konsekvenser förblir därmed ofta otillräckligt problematiserade vilket blir problematiskt vid introduktioner av eID i offentlig sektor. Följaktligen för denna studie fram ett behov av bredare fokus inom detta område och bidrar genom att fokusera på utmaningar som rör motståndet mot introduktioner av eID bland berörda aktörer inom offentlig sektor. Denna studie förutsätter att berörda aktörers uppfattningar (översättningar) av eID har en potentiell inverkan på dess introduktion på organisatorisk och operativ nivå. Forskningsfrågorna behandlar hur motståndet påverkar införandet och förhållandet mellan motstånd och aktörernas översättningar av eID. Målet är att vidareutveckla befintliga begrepp och att bidra med nya insikter till forskning samt praktik. De analytiska perspektiven inom sociologi och institutionalism syftar till att utveckla ett tentativt analytiskt ramverk för att undersöka denna relation och med detta se introduktioner som institutionella tryck som möter motstånd kopplat till berörda aktörers översättningar. Den empiriska grunden består av två tolkande fallstudier - ett nationellt eID införande och ett införande av eID för tjänstebruk inom vården. Resultatet visar att motståndet i form av institutionella hinder utvecklas från aktörers negativa översättningar av eID och samordnande försök att hantera dessa hinder misslyckas ofta. Detta bekräftar också en tydlig relation mellan institutionella tryck, hinder och eID som översatta institutioner vilka överförs mellan olika organisatoriska sammanhang. För att underlätta framtida eID-införanden och för nya insikter till forskning, förs följande tre påståenden fram: (1) Vikten av att erkänna institutionella tryck som närbesläktade med hinder vid införande av eID. (2) De institutioner som deltar (tryck, hinder och eID) är alla översatta av förvaltning, samordnande och berörda aktörer. (3) Vikten av en utvecklad förståelse av dessa institutioner, översättningar och relationer för att underlätta samverkan kring framtidens eID inom offentlig sektor.

Masters of Art / Intimate partner violence (IPV) has reached epidemic proportions in South Africa, prompting the government to pass the Domestic Violence Act 116 (1998). However, numerous scholars still believe that legislation is lacking due to inadequate implementation of protocol in the healthcare sector. In the healthcare setting, nurses are usually the first people that abused women make contact with and so they are in an excellent position to identify IPV victims and prevent further abuse. Routine universal screening in the healthcare setting is recommended as a means to identify women who suffer in abusive relationships. However, several problems have been encountered with the attempts to implement screening practices. In this study the various perceived barriers to IPV screening among nursing students were examined by use of a descriptive survey approach. The research participants were 103 nursing students from the University of the Western Cape. Data were collected by means of a selfadministered questionnaire and analysed using descriptive as a means to uncover the relationship between perceived barriers and the screening practices of the participants. The aim of this study was to identify the barriers that will discourage a nurse from routinely screening for intimate partner violence in a healthcare practice. The present study’s results indicated that the majority of variance in routinely screening for IPV can be explained by barriers related to HCP knowledge of managing IPV disclosure; the perceived responses of patients to screening; the privatisation of abuse; and whether HCP regard IPV as a healthcare issue. Information, regarding the beliefs of healthcare providers (HCP) with regard to IPV as well as the barriers they perceive toward screening, will be helpful in designing curricula that will successfully teach HCP how to screen for IPV and it will also be useful in making positive changes to the screening conditions in healthcare settings.

Magister Public Health - MPH / An urgent need to rapidly increase the size and capacity of the health workforce to manage the health system in Namibia motivated the development of a Bachelor of Nursing Science degree which has been offered at a distance since 1997 at the University of Namibia. The programme is delivered from the University’s Central and Northern Campuses, enabling qualified nurses to develop management and educator capacity while continuing to work;throughput has however been low and slow. Since student support is posited as a vital ingredient of distance education success, this study sought to understand how students experienced the support services offered by the University of Namibia’s distance education unit – the Centre for External Studies. The study explored students’ experiences and perceptions of administrative, social and academic support services provided by the University. The research design was qualitative, and exploratory, using focus groups and interviews for data collection. The sample comprised of forty Bachelor of Nursing Science students enrolled on both campuses between 2005 –2011 as well as seven staff involved in student support services. Documents and interviews of envisioned support services from the Centre for External Studies served as the basis for the evaluation of services. Data was analysed using thematic content analysis. A comparison was made of the findings from the two campuses.The findings reflected positive experiences of support from family and lecturers as well as institutional offerings such as video conferences. There were, however, some institutional weaknesses in the programme delivery such as the late delivery of study materials which impacted on students’ submission of assignments, and weak communication systems which affected delivery of support workshops. The libraries on both campuses were not adequately resourced and prescribed books were not always available at the local bookshops. Lecturer presence was missed by many students who were not used to distance learning, although the intensity of this experience differed between the students on the different Campuses.Personal challenges were sometimes responsible for student discontinuation of the programme, and work-related challenges affected attendance of vacation schools. These problems were experienced more by the students on the Northern Campus.Out of this study, recommendations were made on how to improve support services for advanced nursing students studying at a distance at the University of Namibia. Ethical clearance for the study was obtained from both the University of Namibia and the University of the Western Cape.

No description available.

This study examines the integration of urban agriculture into smart cities in the Netherlands, with an emphasis on stakeholder roles and the institutional environment. The study investigates the complex interaction between local governments, businesses, academic institutions, community groups, and residents using the theoretical frameworks of Scott's institutional theory, stakeholder salience theory, and Moore's business ecosystem theory. The study uses semi-structured interviews with important stakeholders to identify each group's power, legitimacy, and urgency, as well as to investigate their relationships and collaboration. Key findings show that local governments play an important role in regulatory support, land use facilitation, and financial incentives, whereas businesses promote technological innovation and economic viability. Academic institutions make significant contributions to research and technological developments, while community groups promote social sustainability and local participation. Residents, as end users, affect urban agriculture by their engagement and demand. Institutional barriers such as regulatory hurdles, financial constraints, and cultural resistance hinder the integration of urban agriculture. Supportive policies, financial incentives, community engagement, and educational initiatives have been stated as crucial facilitators. To address these barriers, the study underlines the importance of streamlining regulatory processes, developing comprehensive food strategies, and increasing public awareness. Urban agriculture can be successfully integrated into smart city frameworks by leveraging the collaborative potential of varying stakeholders and building a supportive institutional environment. This integration fosters sustainable urban development, improves community well-being, and addresses food security, environmental management, and social cohesion issues. The study offers practical recommendations for policymakers and practitioners to build resilient, innovative, and inclusive urban ecosystems, adding valuable insights to the field of sustainable urban development.